Joshua 13
BSASBIsrael has won the central campaigns, but Joshua is old and much land is still unconquered. God tells him to begin dividing the land anyway, trusting Him to finish the work. The chapter then recalls the lands east of the Jordan that Moses gave to Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh, and repeats that Levi’s inheritance is the LORD Himself.
Joshua 13:1
Joshua has grown old, and God speaks plainly: much land is still not in Israel’s hands. The victories so far are real, but the work is unfinished. God does not scold him. He simply sets out the task ahead, and it will outlast Joshua’s own life.
BSA: very much (“exceedingly, greatly”): The unfinished task is large, not small, and God says so honestly. possessed (“taken control of, occupied”): Having the land by promise is one thing; actually living in and holding it is another.
Hebrew: לְרִשְׁתָּהּ (lereshtah, H3423) — “to possess, to take as an inheritance.” The Hebrew root means both to inherit and to dispossess others. The land is a gift from God, yet it still has to be taken up and held.
Joshua 13:2-3
God lists the remaining land along the southwest coast: the Philistine cities and neighbouring peoples, from the Egyptian border up to Ekron. Five Philistine rulers governed there, each from a city. These were strong, organised neighbours, and they would trouble Israel for generations.
BSA: rulers (“lords, leaders”): Each Philistine city had its own lord, so Israel faced a league of city-states and not one king.
Hebrew: סַרְנֵי (sarnê, H5633) — “lords, rulers (of the Philistines).” This is the particular title used for Philistine leaders in the Old Testament. It marks them as a distinct people with their own system of government.
Joshua 13:4-5
The list turns north: Canaanite lands toward Sidon, the Amorite border, the Phoenician town of Gebal, and Lebanon up to Lebo-hamath. This is the far reaches of the promised territory. God shows Joshua the full extent of what He gave, well beyond what Israel had so far reached.
BSA: Mount Hermon (“a sanctuary, a sacred mountain”): Hermon was a great landmark in the north, and later peoples treated it as a holy place.
See also: Numbers 34:7-8.
Joshua 13:6
God promises to drive out the northern peoples Himself. Israel’s part is to divide the land by lot, as He commanded. The conquest is God’s work, and Israel is asked to act on His promise now, before every battle is won.
BSA: drive out (“dispossess, expel”): God Himself removes the people who hold the land, so the victory rests on Him and not on Israel’s strength. lot (“a method of distribution, often used to determine God’s will”): Casting the lot left each tribe’s portion in God’s hands, not in human favouritism.
See also: Proverbs 16:33.
Joshua 13:7
Joshua is to divide the land west of the Jordan among the nine and a half tribes. He does not have to wait for the last enemy to be gone. The inheritance is assigned in faith, and each tribe will then go in and take its own share.
BSA: inheritance (“a possession, heritage”): The land is received as a family gift from God, not earned as wages.
Joshua 13:8
The other two and a half tribes already have their land east of the Jordan. Moses gave it to them before he died. Here he is called the servant of the LORD, a title of honour for the man who set this arrangement in place.
BSA: servant (“one who serves, a bondservant”): Moses is remembered as one who belonged to God and carried out His will, not his own.
Hebrew: עֶבֶד (ʿeved, H5650) — “servant, slave.” It describes someone wholly in another’s service. As a title for Moses, it is a high honour.
See also: Numbers 32:33.
Joshua 13:9-10
The eastern holdings begin in the south, at the Arnon Valley, and run north across the plateau past Medeba and Dibon. They take in the old kingdom of Sihon, the Amorite king who ruled from Heshbon. These cities were won in battle when Israel first approached the land.
BSA: plateau (“plain, level area”): This is open, high flat country that suited flocks and herds.
See also: Numbers 21:21-26.
Joshua 13:11-12
The east side also takes in Gilead, Mount Hermon and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og. Og was among the last of the Rephaim, a people remembered as tall and fearsome. Moses defeated him, which shows that no enemy was too great for God’s people.
BSA: Rephaim (“giants, powerful beings”): They were remembered as a people of great size and strength. dispossessed (“taken their land, driven them out”): Og was not only beaten but removed from the land, so it could be given to Israel.
Hebrew: רְפָאִים (rephāʾîm, H7497) — “Rephaim, an ancient people of great stature.” Scripture uses this name for a people of unusual size who lived in the lands east of the Jordan before Israel came.
See also: Deuteronomy 3:11.
Joshua 13:13
A sober exception: Israel did not drive out Geshur and Maacath, and they still lived among the Israelites when this was written. Partial obedience left neighbours who would later become a snare. It is a quiet warning that unfinished obedience has lasting consequences.
BSA: dwell (“reside, remain”): The people Israel left alone did not leave. They stayed and became a lasting presence.
See also: Numbers 33:55.
Joshua 13:14
Levi, the priestly tribe, received no territory. Their inheritance was the share of the offerings made by fire that was due to the LORD. They lived on what was brought to God, so their security rested on His provision and not on land.
BSA: offerings (“sacrifices, gifts”): What the people brought to God became the Levites’ daily bread. inheritance (“heritage, legacy”): Their legacy was a share in God’s own service, not a plot of ground.
Hebrew: נַחֲלָה (naḥălāh, H5159) — “inheritance, lasting possession.” Usually it means family land passed down. Here it is applied to Levi, whose lasting possession is the worship of God.
See also: Deuteronomy 18:1-2.
Joshua 13:15-20
Now the portions are listed tribe by tribe, starting with Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. His land ran from the Arnon northward across the plateau and took in Heshbon, Dibon and many other towns, all the way to the slopes of Pisgah. The long list of names shows that every place was given deliberately.
Joshua 13:21
Reuben’s land included Sihon’s former kingdom. The verse also recalls that Moses defeated the Midianite chiefs who lived there. Their defeat was the answer to Midian’s earlier attempt to lead Israel astray.
BSA: Midian (“a desert tribe”): The Midianites were desert people, and some of their leaders had settled in Sihon’s territory.
See also: Numbers 31:7-8.
Joshua 13:22
Balaam, the diviner who tried to curse Israel and then advised Midian how to lead them into sin, died by the sword with the other Midianites. The pause on his death marks the end of a prophet who knew the truth and still sold himself for reward.
BSA: diviner (“soothsayer, prophet”): Balaam practised a pagan craft, though God did speak through him on one occasion.
Hebrew: הַקּוֹסֵם (haqqôsēm, H7080) — “the diviner.” This word names one who sought hidden knowledge by forbidden means. The Bible uses it of Balaam even though God put true words in his mouth.
See also: Numbers 31:8.
Joshua 13:23
The Jordan formed Reuben’s western edge. The summary closes with the cities and villages of the tribe. Reuben had real towns and homes, but a river now separated them from the rest of Israel, which would later cause strain.
BSA: bank (“edge, riverbank”): The Jordan was the clear boundary between Reuben and the land across the river.
Joshua 13:24-26
Gad’s land lay north of Reuben’s, in the hills of Gilead, with Jazer, Heshbon’s surroundings and Ramath-mizpeh. Mahanaim was a place where Jacob had once met angels. It marks a place already tied to God’s dealings with this family.
BSA: Mahanaim (“two camps, a place of angelic encounter”): Jacob named the place after meeting God’s angels there.
See also: Genesis 32:1-2.
Joshua 13:27-28
Gad also held part of the Jordan valley, with towns like Succoth, and reached up to the Sea of Chinnereth, which is the Sea of Galilee. Succoth was where Jacob once built shelters for his animals. Again the summary stresses that these were real cities and villages given as an inheritance.
BSA: Succoth (“place of booths”): The name recalls the shelters Jacob built there on his return to Canaan. villages (“small settlements, unwalled places”): The inheritance included small, open farming settlements as well as walled cities.
See also: Genesis 33:17.
Joshua 13:29-31
Half of Manasseh received the north: Bashan and half of Gilead, including the royal cities of Og. This went to the family of Machir, whose clans took sixty towns. Having been strong in war, Machir’s descendants received the land of a defeated king.
BSA: royal (“kingly, sovereign”): Ashtaroth and Edrei had been the seats of King Og, and now passed to Israel.
See also: Numbers 32:39-41; Deuteronomy 3:13-14.
Joshua 13:32
This summary reminds the reader where Moses made these gifts: on the plains of Moab, across from Jericho, just before Israel crossed the Jordan. The lands came from Moses’ hand under God’s direction, before Joshua’s campaigns began.
Joshua 13:33
The chapter ends as it began for Levi: no land, but the LORD Himself as their portion. The promise is stated more simply and more fully than before. Having God Himself is the greatest inheritance, and the Levites hold it as a gift given to them.
BSA: promised (“spoken, communicated”): Levi’s inheritance rests on what God had actually said, not on anything they could earn.
See also: Numbers 18:20; Psalm 16:5.